The present invention relates to a microcomputer having a high-speed operation mode and a low-speed operation mode, and particularly to a microcomputer having a high-speed sense amplifier to read an instruction out of an instruction memory.
In general, a high frequency oscillator is used to apply a high frequency clock to a microcomputer in the high-speed operation mode, while a low frequency oscillator is used in the low-speed operation mode. In order to increase an operation speed of a microcomputer, not only an instruction execution speed but also an instruction reading speed must be increased. To increase the instruction reading speed, a high-speed sense amplifier, such as a current mirror type sense amplifier, will be required as a memory reading circuit. Since the sense amplifier of this type is driven by a large amount of current, a large amount of power is consumed.
In the high-speed operation mode, an instruction reading cycle becomes short because the instruction execution speed is increased and because the high frequency clock is used. However, an instruction reading period can not be shortened less than a period that will be determined by characteristics of the sense amplifier and a memory to make sure an instruction fetch into a central processing unit (CPU). Thus, it will be required in the high-speed operation mode to use such a sense amplifier that is activated in a full time or with a large duty rate.
On the other hand, when the low frequency oscillator is connected to the microcomputer in the low-speed operation mode, a low power consumption is required. In this case, a low frequency clock is applied to the microcomputer. However, a large amount of power is consumed by the above sense amplifier because it is activated with the same duty rate as that in the high-speed operation mode. To avoid the power consumption of the sense amplifier a low-power sense amplifier is required. However, since a microcomputer having the low-power sense amplifier has to be newly developed, a long development term and a design change are necessary.